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The God’s Must Be Crazy

Half a dozen years or ago, I had a Facebook page at the insistence of female friends, who told me I had to have a Facebook page. It did not last long as my life is not interesting and the lives of my friends are not interesting either. What killed the idea for me was that I kept seeing posts for “I Fucking Love Science!” and they were always from people with no math or science. The posts themselves were never really about science either. Instead, they were usually about confirming some belief bubbling up on the Left.

In other words, they were just using science as a placeholder for a transcendent authority that allegedly validated their preferences. Instead of claiming that God commands us to put more women and blacks into STEM fields, we’re to believe science is happier if we put more women and blacks into STEM fields, because, science! I dropped Facebook a long time ago so I have no idea if it is still a thing, but I see there is a website for it now. By the looks of it, it is the same act.

Science is not the only stand in for God that we have today. Libertarian economists worship at the altar of Castor and Pollux, or as they call them, Efficiency and Productivity. No matter the policy, they demand it be sent off to the druids of the local economics department so they can read the goat entrails and then forecast the policy’s impact on efficiency and productivity. For instance, clamping down on immigration is a bad thing because it lowers worker productivity and that makes the gods cross. Handing off trade policy to global planners is a good thing because it pleases efficiency.

The most stunningly absurd manifestation of this came from the libertarian economist Alex Tabbarok, who claimed the mystery cult of economics demanded open borders. He argued that your preferences are invalid unless you can please his gods and he was the guy who would decide if the gods were pleased. This is Bronze Age oogily-boogily and it exposes a truth about the Left in the modern era. While they may appear to have abandoned the Christian concept of God as a moral authority, in reality they just gave him some new names. They still point to the heavens and demand you submit.

That’s the thing you see with all of these sects within the Progressive hive. They maintain that old Puritan instinct where they assume to have special insights into the desires of the heavens and therefore they have a right to push everyone around. This is clear when you look at the campus war on whites. When the nutters demand the blanco check his privilege, they are claiming to speak for some mystical force that has decided that the honky hegemony must be eradicated. They assume the gods are on their side and the accused must justify his actions or else.

It’s not just a mysterious supernatural authority that animates their morality. They have a list of demons and sub-demons they believe are at war with the forces of light. Racism used to be a white guy refusing to hire a black guy. Now, it is this thing called “institutional racism” which you can’t actually see or describe. It’s this dark force that results in the IT department being staffed with pale penis people, rather than looking like the multicultural paradise we all know is the natural destiny of man. We must fight institutional racism!

Feminist have also conjured a monster, the opposition to which has become their rallying cry. Campus Rape Culture™ is not a real thing in the sense that it exists. Instead, it is a metaphysical concept that causes all sorts of bad things. The result is we have a line of hungover coeds at the rape counseling center blaming the campus rape culture for why they woke up with their underwear on their head. The rarity of actual rape on campus is held up as proof of the insidiousness of Campus Rape Culture™.

Eric Hoffer said, “Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil.” This is true, but the latter always results in the creation of the former. Once the great evil has been identified and described, there has to be a moral code in response to it and that requires a transcendent authority to animate. Otherwise, the moral code is just a list of preferences that can be disputed or discarded. If those preferences have the color of authority, one beyond the reach of man, then it has power.

That’s what we see with the various utopian tribes in the modern age. Modern Progressive have “the right side of history” as their spirit god. Libertarians have Efficiency and Productivity. The open borders crazies have “it’s who we are” and Buckley Conservatives have “conservative principles.” All of which serve as a supernatural authority whose word trumps any argument made by men in opposition. It also gives the adherents license to use any means necessary to impose their morality on the rest of us.

this kind of rigidity of perception that is a hallmark of the leftist personality frees the holder from having to exert much mental energy; i.e. it is a lazy adaptation. in slow moving times it might have been viable, but in today’s fluid world it is fatal. i may not know for sure what all the dark shapes are, but I at least know they are moving.

C.S. Lewis observed the worship of science as the new god of the modern age. Atheists deride the blind faith practiced by those who worship God, yet so many secularists with little or no understanding of science do the same because some blurb in the news has the word “Science” attached, so it must be true! I would love to ask them: “So you understand completely the logical process and methods they went through to achieves the conclusion?” They would admit no, but state it must be true because scientists wear the white lab coats of scientific priesthood, and thus… Read more »

It isn’t a myth. Well, maybe not giant membranes touching, but enthusiastic membranes touching is why Mrs. thor and I have several children.

Back to the subject: it is always interesting to note that the progressives worship economics as a science yet hate its laws. So they clamor for a minimum wage, then don’t understand why teenage unemployment goes up.

The left hates “The Natural Order”, men are generally smarter and stronger than women, and blacks are generally dumber than everyone else. This railing against nature is what causes leftists to be deranged. It kills them to think that White Privilege, or Male Privilege may be just the way things are. The gods are cruel and inflexible, science is malleable.

I have spent quite a bit of professional time with Asians, and I can tell you that they often operate at a mental pace that is quicker and more sophisticated than mine. There is a gentle and unspoken charity given there, in that they slightly “dumb down” the content and slow the pace, so that I can keep up. I think that in the educational community, those would be labeled as “microaggressions”. The difference in how people’s brains operate is real, IMHO, and has some correlation with IQ measures. The problem for the Libs is that once this is common… Read more »

It’s not the gods are crazy, it’s all the shades and degrees of cultural marxism seeping into every facet of a lot peoples affairs writ large and they don’t recognize it’s so. It’s like a fractal species of cargo cultism obtaining a herd populism. It is such a contrast to the traditional and alt-right, like alien species. I look around and see people preparing themselves physically, spiritually, for the possibility of a future where rendering of the fabric of our society has reached a point where their fellow Americans inured to cultural marxist light social behavior could end up in… Read more »

Your self characterization reminds me of John the savage from “Brave New World”. Or the guy from Plato’s cave allegory who manages to escape and sees the real world.In any case you are true son of Adam, who was blessed, not cursed by God to earn his bread by the sweat of his brow, so as to always keep him connected with reality.

Always admired Plato’s cave for it’s bare bones accuracy, it sure is allegory. Scary in a way too. What if Plato is more right than he knew? That’s chilling. I look at to be blessed with good fortune, with humility mind you, to have “five acres and independence”. We don’t have barely enough in monetary wealth to get by, but are rich nevertheless. Even in this neck of the woods it is about as rural as rural can be, there’s a lot of neighbors who have beautiful land and don’t utilize its physical value or work it to produce the… Read more »

I spend less and less time on the internet, but am glad I stopped by today for the privilege and pleasure of picking up a new phrase: “electron zombies”. Wonderful! Thanks! Like you, I seldom venture off my property, enjoy pissing of the porch, moon-gazing and mind-beaming. Just this morning (summer’s-end, where I am), I decided that this is the year to seriously ramp up our greenhouse and veggie-patch production. I’m soon to be 71, about to take my last “adventure” trip (the Amazon) sympathize fully with your chagrin with those who have grown so detached from the natural world… Read more »

Just popped into my head freelance, but your welcome. It is kind of funny now you mention it. Electron Zombies, rolls off the tongue. Yes, got that right, serenity and contentment, no place like home. My farmer friend & neighbor Randy will come by and say lets go up on the hill and have us a sit, we can gaze upon the land and be masters of all we purvey. He’s just making good fun out of the belief we both share we only rent God’s earth for a little while, and we have to be good Shepard’s of it… Read more »

Well thanks and kind regards. To be frank, it was written with a heart felt expression of concern for my fellow American’s. I can not but help sense there is a long row to hoe here, as a people some of us have lost all touch with legacies hard won and wisdom gained down through time. And we can not afford to loose those things. Not that one size fits all, because it takes all kinds, but people disconnected in the matrix are people disconnected so far from the physical provincial nature of nature and provincial culture ways and it’s… Read more »

Is that what you think? Me, I’m sad. I remember a overt vibrant world where git er’ done was SOP. Now I see a jacked in world that is loosing physical touch with legacy culture mores and values. I want to retain those legacy things, my connections to a provincial way of life. I suspect killing people off because they don’t adhere to my sense of things holds no value. The 20th century proved that is not what the marxists of all flavors chalk it up to be. What is needed is a grass roots movement towards those values I… Read more »

I think what you have just described is the reason for the rise of nationalism and ethnicity in politics. These are tangible. What they replace are things that can be categorized with the nebulous things in search of contrived divine sanction. The conservatives had something with the Constitution, but since they have conceded to the libs the right to continually revise it, they destroyed what permanence and tangibility that it once seemed to have. The libs spent many years taking down every aspect of traditional civic and social life in America without considering the vacuum that would be created and… Read more »

As a white man who grew up in the seventies, I can testify from personal experience that institutional racism exists … AGAINST WHITE MEN! First, the gov’t took away our right of freedom of association and bussed me to failing inner city black schools where I was exposed to institutional racism for seven years. Next, during 3 years in the Army, I observed the institutional racism of tribal blacks and hispanics getting promoted and favored over white men. Busting my ass to get into college, I noticed institutional racism against white men when I learned that negroes were held to… Read more »

The god of this world has many different paths intended to darken and distract the human heart. He does not mind which one is taken, as all of his paths lead toward him and away from the light. What I did not consider until this post was, it appears he enjoys watching his disciples on different paths fighting each other along the way.

Yet another outstanding post. To add another darkly amusing example of transparently ignorant ‘IFLS’ TM: The idea that the universe is a simulation as propagated by Mr Prog Science himself, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, no less. Link: http://www.businessinsider.com/neil-degrasse-tyson-thinks-the-universe-might-be-a-simulation-2016-12 The elementary logical consequence of this view is that if the universe is a simulation, then someone (i.e. an extremely intelligent being) existing outside of the universe not only had to write the code but also create the processor it runs on (a pretty good basic, if twisted, definition of God). This rather obvious implication seemingly escapes the Manhattan upper W Side hive-mind.… Read more »

Excellent comment. To continue in the same vein, “in some mysterious way the universe itself is the processor as well as the process” is a bit of circumlocution worthy of a Taoist or Buddhist monk or the most obscure Roman theologians. “The Universe is the Processor as well as the Process.” “The Way that can be Discovered is not the True Way”. Om…. “The Universe is The Processor and The Process, as was shown by the Hypostatic Union of the Neoplatonic Archons…” One could go on but it could get silly. Speaking of getting silly. By merest accident of searching… Read more »

Al from da Nort, whether you meant to or not, you couldn’t have thought of a better analogy for the way things really are. You and Z-man have both seen two sides of the same truth. It goes like this: Somewhere far back in time, in the midst of the garden grew a tree whose fruit, it was said, would impart the knowledge of Good and Evil. One said unto man that to eat of this fruit would surely cause death. Another, that original Progressive, said “not so,” but rather apprehending this knowledge (synonymous with ‘science’) would bring mankind into… Read more »

Poor old lefties. 40+ years ago they were in “if it feels good, do it” mode, flowers in their hair, painting each others’ bodies, having loveins, setting up communes, driving around stoned in psychedelic VW vans, and generally making trouble only for themselves then and later in life. Now look at them, terrified of reality, perpetually offended, rowdy, disruptive, destructive (self and generally), and becoming such a general nuisance the whole country is turning on them. I liked them better back then.

Never underestimate what a young man would do to find a sexual partner. Never underestimate what a young woman would do to find a provider and protector. They took it all seriously when the rest of us (even some of us who were their age at the time) looked at it as a trivial lark of sorts. Now they seek to impose their preferences on the rest of us, and some of us still look at their behavior as trivial and misguided. They hate the likes of me for not taking them seriously and for farting in their general di-rection.

No, sorry – I have to call you on this one. This whole concept of immigration for the benefit of society has nothing to do with science or the left, and everything to do with supporting capitalism since the start of the Industrial Revolution. England was the first country to encourage foreign immigration during the 1860’s-1900’s. European immigrants flooded into London and tripled the city population during that time. America followed suite with Chinese and Irish immigrants to get the railroads going, and quickly imported eastern Europeans to cities like Chicago and other industrial cities to fuel the huge demand… Read more »

In case you haven’t noticed, most of the very wealthy and the CEOs of the large American companies (many members of one are also members of the other) have gone full Democrat in the last ten years or so. The rest, like the Koch brothers, are nominally Republican but are in the Democrat camp on most things. The Democrat party, as we know it, did not exist until the early 20th century, thanks to Woodrow Wilson and F.D.Roosevelt. The two U.S. political parties of the late 19th entury concerned themselves with other things while child and immigrant labor filled the… Read more »

@ Dutch – From that perspective, can ignore any American political differences of the two parties until after 1900? I was under the impression American politics were strongly divided and very influential across all of what was America at that time, thus the resulting Civil war? Either way, one can’t argue that America is not a democracy or a country “of the people” under global industrialists today any more than it was under the Robber Barons of their day. Clearly it’s the policies of big industry and the bank which are implemented over those of your freely elected presidents and… Read more »

Quite a few things to comment on for your post, so I will hit them in order, as much as I can. After the U.S. Civil War, the political parties were animated by the nature of reconstruction and a gold standard dollar versus a silver standard (Wizard of Oz deals with the gold standard issue). The gold standard issue was intertwined with the potential bankruptcy of small family farms during times of recession, and keep in mind that family farming was one of the big cultural things of the time (Little House on the Prairie can be considered a diary… Read more »

@ Dutch – Many thanks for the condensed history lesson. 🙂 American politics is a mysterious animal, not unlike Jacobs coat, a thing of many colors. I consider myself an educated man, yet I struggle to fully appreciate the complexity of your country’s politics. Perhaps LetsPlay was correct – my 10-years in the SF Bay area was not nearly enough to fully appreciate American politics or the incredible diversity you take for granted. Perhaps we can’t compare the morals and values of the past to our own, even going back 70-years brings many things that were once acceptable into question.… Read more »

I spent part of the weekend with a group of Mexicans and Mexican-Americans. It is unfortunate that the uncontrolled immigration has so warped things. It has allowed the dominant Mexican families, cartels, and government officials to absolutely pillage the country, far more than what is seen in the US or Europe (so far). The emigration to the US is a cultural safety valve exploited by the Mexican elites. Mexicans are gregarious, proud, entrepreneurial, and gracious people. Their culture is a big mix of influences, which makes for an interesting one. The elites are the same snobs as anywhere else, and… Read more »

The Civil War was a religious war coincidental to the usual hot political debates. After the old republic was ended in 1865 the way was made clear for Progressives, but it still took them forty years to gain the high ground. We’ve been speaking in their tongue so long we don’t even know what the right questions are any longer. There are no debates but between small numbers of well informed people, and never public debates. There is no place for public debate under universal suffrage.

Karl, you still fail to see the way American is being attacked by the Left/Socialists and what Zman writes about here is true. Of course you are also right to the extent that whatever “party” someone might choose to affiliate with, people like Immelt are simply Globalist scum who are only out for themselves and their friends. He was an Obama Czar for Jobs for goodness sake! That speaks for itself just what a traitor he is.

@ LetsPlay – On the contrary, I do agree. But it’s not just the left and socialists. Many conservatives, as well as many Christians, are also encouraging foreigners to come to the west. My argument is this is not just a left-liberal agenda. I agree that the globalists are certainly out for themselves, but it seems there are many who approach this subject from the humanitarian perspective as well.

@ LetsPlay – To your referred article – I should use harsh words and accuse you (or at least the website) of cultural appropriation! Using the English word “Liberty” with the German “Blitzkrieg” just smacks of insensitivity towards all things German. I mean really – can’t you come up with a good old American term and not appropriate German ones? Insensitive Brute! Wretched Kretin!

Now I know why your students need safe places. I suddenly feel “uncomfortable” myself. Where’s my coloring book and crayons?

Easy there Karl. I think what you have just experienced is American use of a term that has “no” negative connotation to Germans or Germany. It is simply a term that has entered the vernacular as a way of describing a force or movement of something, in this case “liberty” which has no limited right of usage to the British only. Look at the site. It has nothing negative to say about your people. It is simply using a word the author chose to communicate his idea. I think you have bought into the Left’s idea of sensitivity to words… Read more »

@ LetsPlay – I actually encourage any arguments that challenge the status quo here in Germany. And I will be sure to post a smiley face when I’m kidding or joking. But please, feel free to call me on things I get wrong about the US and I will try to correct things that are misunderstood about this side of the great pond. But when the historical topics do get tossed in the mix about our respective historical pasts, let’s agree they are for contrast and comparison and not intended as criticism or attacks of each other as people. It’s… Read more »

That may have been the case back then, but not today. The Left today has made immigration a hot button issue not because of the urgent need for cheap labor, (Though I would not put it past the corporations paying useful idiots among them for that purpose). No, the Left today wants mass immigration to gain useful idiots to displace the US western Constitutional culture with a foreign one that they believe will be more amendable to changing America to socialism. Our present birthrate is below average, and the newcomers will simply out breed us, and then take over all… Read more »

Indian, Chinese, Vietnamese who can outperform…nature, nurture, culture? The Left’s big advantages in the immigration argument have been to conflate legal immigration and illegal immigration, to relabel “illegal aliens” as “undocumented workers” and to label illegals as “war refugees” when many, if not most, are economic opportunists. Under these mislabelings of the immigrant’s status and intent, people’s sympathies and guilts are played. The wealthy and dominant are very, very good at working the psyches of their countrymen to their own ends. And they do not like it one bit when some of us stand up to them.

@ Dutch – What does your prison population indicate? Are there lots of Indians, Vietnamese and Chinese in your prisons, or is it Whites, Blacks and Hispanics? Can you explain why I could see Mexicans at Home Depot looking for day jobs and not whites and blacks or Asians? Can you explain why the sterio-typical Indians are running 7-11’s and hotels in America, while the Asians are running shops and stores or becoming engineers and doctors and not out on the streets selling crack? My observation was these people actually came to America to work, just as they do here… Read more »

Karl, you ask complex and interesting questions. America has historically been a place where people can “make good” for themselves and their families. The essence of the issue (as I framed in my comment about Mr. Abdallah) is that it works when immigrants buy into the culture and institutions that they move to. The non-assimilation of some of the Muslim Arabs, who choose to practice an insular form of fundamentalist Islam, is an extreme case. Here in California, the generosity of welfare programs and the widespread lack of requirements for legal documentation mean that there is a large Hispanic subculture,… Read more »

@ Dutch – In my eyes the worst thing about immigration is the impact of the brain trust of a nation departing with all the solutions to their own nations problems. The west is far too attractive because pickings are easy and even the poorest in America and Europe have food and shelter. There are no Indians to fight, no crops to fail, no Armies showing up and conscripting your children to die in battle (as was the case here). What you would imagine as the worst day in America or Europe is infinitely better than the best day in… Read more »

“Indian, Chinese and Vietnamese children who can out-perform native speaking Whites, Blacks and Hispanics on college entrance exams.”

This overstates the importance of people who are good at taking college entrance examinations. We need to maintain the number and quality of the technical workers required to keep the place running. A trade-education system like the one in Germany would be more useful than the 2/3 of the meaningless graduates produced by our colleges.

@ Lorenzo – Wait, What? Someone here agrees with me on a socialistic concept like trade-education? I’ve been on that topic ever since I discovered this site and was branded a Marxist serial baby killer for such heresy. But, when you’re right, you’re right. It’s time America stopped wasting money on kids who have no place in a University and who are obtaining useless degrees in “Women’s Studies” and “Journalism”. Degrees in “Arts and Crafts” and “Photography” should not exist – a hobby does not warrant a university diploma or a mountain of debt! The robot future, however that is… Read more »

I attended vocational school before college and ran a couple of privatized companies in post-reunification Sachsen and Sachsen-Anhalt, so I have seen the benefits of such training on both ends of the arrangement.

“A socialist concept like trade-education?” No, I don’t think so. I agree with you Karl. The trades are simply an alternative for people who have different interests, motivations, and like to do things with their hands, primarily. I would even include Ag schools like Cal Poly – SLO where I went. I studied Engineering but they had Ag schools, HVAC and other more hands on type programs for those with more of an engineering bent. But a big advocate in the US for this kind of program is Mike Rowe who has done some shows like “Dirty Jobs.” You can… Read more »

Karl; Two points: First: Then as now employers prefer inexpensive and tractable workers and will support whichever politicians promise to deliver same. Folk from the then-oppressive societies you cite were used to having few rights and low pay. Hence they were favored as employees for dangerous and dirty jobs such as railroad construction and steel mills, etc. And these employees reached back to the old country to bring in their fellows, then as now. OTOH, to employ local labor, which was then available from the surplus farm population (~ 70% lived on farms then), the industrialists would have had to… Read more »

@ AFDN – I would not consider T. Roosevelt a liberal as much as I would consider him a progressive of his time given his position and power. John Muir and Upton Sinclaire don’t strike me as a leftist or liberals either, but as a rational men who recognized the abuse of government and industry against the American people and the ruining of the land itself. As thezman pointed out some time ago, these particular men should not be confused with the so-called progressives of today – which I now understand. It was not my misunderstanding of the word ‘progressive’,… Read more »

I think the Turks and Germans have had a “thing” for each other for over 100 yrs. Go back to the great German archeologists of the late 19th c., like Schleimann who uncovered ancient Troy, although there are questions about that. Fifty years ago in Istanbul, the German archeologists still ruled on the “big digs,” the Brits second, followed by Americans and French. To a certain class of old family Germans, Turkey is their Palm Beach! It almost like the Germans can relax and enjoy a gemutlich lifestyle without requiring a huge amount of money. The things that drove me… Read more »

Karl, remind me which country “imported” — or should I say press ganged — millions of Polish, French, Russian, etc workers to run its factories, clean its sewers, and labor on its farms from 1939 to 1945? Afterwards, those same millions of unfortunates filled the displaced persons camps. The ones unfortunate enough to be forceably repatriated to the Soviet Union usually got a one way ticket to the Gulag. And all because of this one country. I think its name sounded something like “gross douche rike.” Maybe you can help me?

The Hun always misses the point. We all have these sorts of things in our attics. I call your slavery and raise you Teutonic Knights and atrocities in East Africa. Well what about your Indians you might say. I then counter with the partitions of Poland and the immiseration of a proud, free people. Well it’s not just the Boche. Euro-peons in general love to play this game with Americans, assuming we don’t know their history. I remember one blog I used to frequent. There was a Greek who used to always rag on us about all of our awful… Read more »

@ El Baboso – Not bashing the Americans at all, and I will accept any criticism of German behavior in our not so glorious past. Reflecting on our respective pasts is not a commentary of who we are, but who we have been. Countries, like people, change over time. It’s not “bashing” to remind someone they use to like the BeeGee’s when they complain about Justin Bieber. History is just a place holder of where we have been, not necessarily a sign of where we are going.

Karl, you ignorant slob! The Republicans were the “liberals” of the time between 1860-1890! In the latter part of that period of American history they became ” “progressive”, as well. Stop with the political history of which all you know involves labels, rather than philosophies.

@ Old Codger – Forgive me for trying to understand your countries political landscape. But when Republicans freed the slaves, how is it they suddenly went from liberal, to progressive to conservative? Have they switched back or Jeff Immelt a wolf in sheep’s clothing?

These posts are altering my life! How true, the duplicity of Mr. Jeff of General Electric. I missed that when he said it. If there are any economists reading this, the knee-jerk conservative response to border tax imports is negative, it just costs the consumer more, but doesn’t a high corporate income tax accomplish the exact same negative result? Wouldn’t reducing the income tax on corporations (they actually don’t pay it, but collect it and pass it on) and putting an import tax instead, have the effect of retaining jobs while raising the same revenue?

The local Portland news had a crawl line today about how Portland now has fewer blacks. Somehow, I don’t think they will understand that when you get rid of the manufacturing jobs that provided those blacks with a living, they will have to move elsewhere to find work.

They still have diversity though, as the news typically reports a murder in town on a regular basis.

Society is a group effort. Being told that we must invite immigrants to participate in our institutions has some similarity with being told by our relatives that our just about profitable owner managed business must employ our useless brother in law (s). Not all immigrants are equal of course, but there is something unique about the constitutional basis of American/British culture, and this is being lost fast. In fact, it was always a minority culture and perhaps we are deluding ourselves to think there is much left of it even today.

@ LPT – One only look at history of both countries to appreciate what uncontrolled immigration can do. The Vikings’ first contact in England occurred in in 793, when they raided a monastery at Lindisfarne. By 878 they had virtually conquered all of England. Move the clock forward to the 1600’s and white-Europeans displaced Native Americans as quickly as they arrived. In both cases, neither of the indigenous peoples were able to stop the “invaders”. My grandfather once told me: When an Englishman by the name of Robertson, who comes from the town of Goathland, tells me he is English,… Read more »

You miss my point. I think this is a peculiarly American thing, as there are people in many European countries, or even in parts of countries, that will never accept newcomers unless they are born there. The essence of America is that almost all of us are either immigrants or descended from immigrants. There is a part of the American social compact that says you can be one of us, really and truly, but the price is that you must become one of us. It is an American thing. To come here, drink of the privileges and freedoms, enjoy what… Read more »

@ Dutch – It’s a unique thing to be an American because it’s one of the few countries that will take anyone from anywhere and they can actually become an “American”. But what exactly does that mean? And I agree, living in the Bay Area was nothing like what I experienced in Colorado, Texas, Mississippi or the New England states. The people there were each as different from each other as night and day. Europeans have a long history going back 2,000 years of well recorded history. Even further if you include the unrecorded history of the Celts, Gaul’s and… Read more »

@ Dutch – Can I be an American and still hold to my German values, culture and language in my home. Even if I speak fluent English in public and prefer football (soccer) to baseball and bratwurst to hot dogs, apple strudel over apple pie and drive a Mercedes rather than a Chevy?

Yes. Especially in the upper Midwest, which is largely Historically German-American. “Pennsylvania Dutch” is actually from the German (“Dutch”=”Deutsch”), and historically has its own English dialect. America is made up of many things.

Karl; The answer to your question above is yes. In fact, there are more than a few folks like this in my part of the world, at least as far as beer, brats and strudel go. Soccer, now that’s a bridge too far 🙂 As I’m sure you know, it is actually Bavarian regional culture that largely passes for who “Germans” are and what “Germans” do over here. For the benefit of co-posters, Bavarian regional culture, while not un-representative is hardly a complete picture of Germany or Germans. I recall from my military postings to central Germany over 45 years… Read more »

Minnesota and Wisconsin are very German, very Lutheran, and have been out front in many broad-based public social programs, reflecting Bismarck’s focus on such things. I’m sure German is still spoken in some (maybe not “many” any more?) homes in these states.

Dutch and I have a very different idea of what it means to be an American.
I vehemently disagree that “anyone” can become an American, merely by adopted American English & basic cultural norms. I do not consider these people to be real Americans. I take the words, “natal,” & “nation,” to have a genuine meaning & do not consider a random group of people who look like any airport boarding area’s population, but planted on American grass & concrete to be a part of this nation.

Some “friend” I never heard of put on Facebook “It is a scientific fact that …” followed by some statement that had nothing to do with science, but was a leftist political opinion. I replied by asking, “What does science have to do with …” whatever preposterous claim had been made. The “friend” replied with, “Obviously you don’t believe in science.” Well, obviously one of us knows what science is not.

Never underestimate the need to be “chosen”, the need to be “right”, and the need to belong. Current libtards are no different than those of the Catholic Church that burned people at the stake for disagreeing with their dogma. All in the name of “God”. The left has tried to do away with God, but they have to promote some kind of higher power to use to placate their needs and desires. This higher power is science, with a small “s”. Science, with a large “S”, utilizes the Scientific Method. To a leftist, science with a small “s” only requires… Read more »

It still seems to me that the essence of the problem to all the examples you pose here is the American education system and it’s planned decline over the past few decades. How does such a significant portion of the population, mostly the younger one, become so mixed up about everything? I just finished reading “Eight Lives Down” by Chris Hunter who was a EOD team leader for a British squad in Afstan. One quote he used which was unattributed but worthy of note was “Fight what is wrong, believe what is true, and do what is right.” On the… Read more »

That article raises old, repeated complaints that are decades old. Oh, not fair. Racist! Now they, the minorities can ‘afford’ the costs/fees. I surprised they haven’t stooped to the extent of saying they can’t afford a good suit or interview dress and are therefore discriminated against. Taxpayers should provide them with a “fair” chance. Where does it stop? Excuses. And the ones keeping the excuses going are both the unions and the race bait industry. And the politicians and bureaucrats give-in every damn time because otherwise they are … racist.

There is something very dangerous when you combine “moral equivalent of war” with “the proof of the conspiracy is that it is so clever that you can’t actually find evidence of the conspiracy”. Now on the Campus Rape Culture beat…at the school one of my sons attends they are in the throes of a one of those scandals where allegedly a bunch of fraternity guys roofied and assaulted four girls at a party. So all the usual marches, student senate proclamations and other Progressive gnashing of teeth ensued. But apparently the “investigation” is being conducted by the University’s Title IX… Read more »

I abandoned F*ckbook early last year, but missed a whole bunch of fun.

Apparently post Brexit and post US elections I missed a boatload of steaming angst and the heart-rending wails of my lefty relatives as they mourned how unfair the world had suddenly become. By all accounts it was tears, more tears and extra tears. Sad that I missed out on so much free entertainment.

@ UKer – I’ve been to the UK several times this year. The island is still afloat, people are working, and the weather and food is just as horrible as ever…just kidding! Let’s hope the rest of Europe wakes up and votes out too. I suspect things will only get better for everyone except Belgium. And on that note, I say Germany should rebuild its military and as a show of European sovereign solidarity and support for President Trump, we invade Belgium. America – please stay out this time. It took us 18-days back in May 1940, but I think… Read more »

Thanks Karl for visiting us peasants and yes, we are busy plugging the holes just below the white cliffs to keep our heads above water. But in the meantime if your countrymen are going to invade Belgium again you’re going to need a new Schlieffen Plan.

PS I think we dropped our defence treaty with Belgium too if that helps, or if we haven’t then we need to do it fast.

Actually since we’re probably not allowed the old Blitz thing with Panzers these days (very un-PC), I was thinking we could simply encourage them to all own British cars. That should bring the whole country to a standstill quickly enough. You still build cars over there, right? 😉

Oh come on Karl, you can say it. Blitzkrieg! It’s ok. It is just a word. You still say things like Mercedes, and Volkswagen, Bayer, Siemens, Hugo Boss among other heavy industry firms. No one shut them down for their relationship to the Third Reich.

By that logic, the Iranian stuff won’t work either since the Frenchies have been making buku bucks selling nuclear tech to our enemies for a long, long time. Norko’s included. But they may have been negated by the Pakistanis’ or the Chinese. Who knows, maybe the French tech has been the trojan horse to be the fail safe for our enemies but then Bill Clinton sold out our tech to the Chineses for a quick buck the other way around. A nasty business. You just can’t trust anyone these days. Everyone is selling out to the highest bidder.

During the period Karl mentioned, America was basically run by one man. A railroad industrialist who picked 5 presidents, he was so good at cover that no one remembers him. John Coughlin? A name like that- he was the HW Bush of his time, except far less murderous, criminal, and global.